Cooker feed not live - electricians help

[richie00boy]

Went to wire up my new hob last night and found the feed behind the blanking plate (previously gas hob) was not live. I can't see any isolator switch for it either. All trips on the fuse box are up. How can I trace the wire? Do electricians have oscillator signal tracers or some other kit?

 

[Spark plug]

Hammer and chisel

 

[Justme]

Open up the fuse box / consumer unit & see if the wires are still there.

Only do this if you are competent or want to win a darwin award.

 

[brightspark]

go back to fuseboard take front off and see if theres a 6.0mm or a 10mm cable there on a seperate fuse. it may be 30 amp or a green 45amp if there is and u cant find where it is in kitchen take some floorboards up above where the cooker is . if u find the cable see where it goes down and it will give u a clue to where it is someone might have just buried it if its wooden floors downstairs they may come up from under the floor

 

[richie00boy]

The consumer unit has a tinted lid and the only one relevant I could see was marked kitchen sockets. All the trips were up and there was one blank space with no trip. I will have a look when I get home if behind the tape covering that space there is some wire.

Surely though there should also be an isolator switch in the kitchen? There is one for other appliances. The house was built 1998 and I don't think the electrics have been messed with in that time.

 

[steviec_lj]

Have you lived there since it was built?

If not, assume everything has been messed with, probably by Do-it-all Dave too.

Is the hob completely electric, or gas with an electric lighter?

 

[richie00boy]

I have just bought the house from the person that lived there from it being 2 years old. They told me that everything was original and it appears to be so.

If the new hob was gas with electric lighter it would be easy!

 

[anjum]

What sort of blanking plate is it? When you take the cover off are the wires 6mm or 2.5mm.
If 6mm it should lead back to a 30 or 45 amp breaker in the fuse box (or space for one). Fit a correctly rated isolator switch in place of the blanking plate. A trick maybe, when you've found the loose wires in the fusebox to make sure they are the right ones, is to connect a 9v battery between the live and neutral (make sure the electrics are all turned off) and check for 9v at the cooker plate end. Or you could connect/ short the loose live and neutral together and check for continuity at the other end between the live and neutral and check they go open circuit when you remove the short. Another slight possibility, is there another fusebox?

If 2.5mm then you can't connect an electric hob/ cooker to it. Either buy a gas hob or find an electrician, whichever is cheapest!

 

[Jan]

I thought that electric cookers legally require a 'Cooker' isolation switch (usually with a switched 13 amp socket on the front) on the wall near to the cooker. If that's missing, then the odds are that there was originally a gas cooker there with a small supply for ignition and/or electric lighting inside the oven. Can you see a bayonet gas fitting coming out of the wall?

 

[richie00boy]

The wire is bigger than 2.5mm^2, it looked like maybe 6 strands of 0.75mm^2.

The blanking plate is behind the (built under) oven.

There is a double socket I think that is next to the oven isolation switch. If it was previously a single socket and 45A switch combo, why would it be changed? I'll take the face off tonight and have a look if there is a thick wire unterminated hidden behind there.

 

[puffernutter]

Could it have been wired with the option of an electric hob OR an electric oven, so there is only one 6mm^2 cable run from the fusebox? Depending what you chose when you bought the house (new) that was what wired? Or have you found the other end of the cable in the fusebox?

Our house (Victorian Terrace) was rewired by the previous owner (a builder). A total nightmare........

 

[richie00boy]

I need to look at the fusebox. So far just looked in the kitchen.

 

[DanielW]

I need to look at the fusebox. So far just looked in the kitchen.

Usually the fuses are marked accordingly,the wire behind the blancking plate,is that terminated with blocks? do make sure it is before messing in the fuse box.

 

[Robotstar5]

Wasn't there any paperwork regarding the electrics when you bought the house?, I would have thought the solicitors would have required an EICR (electrical installation condition report) on the property as part of the sale.

 

[Westfield-builder]

Wasn't there any paperwork regarding the electrics when you bought the house?, I would have thought the solicitors would have required an EICR (electrical installation condition report) on the property as part of the sale.

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha !
That is so funny, it is beyond hilarious! They (solicitors) don't have a clue to EICRs, Electrical Regs, Building Regs, Part P or , unless they can CHARGE you for it.

 

[Jan]

Isn't part of the pre-mortgage survey?

 

[richie00boy]

Yes Westfield Builder, your statement is totally correct there. I found that out myself when buying the house. Wish I could have done the conveyancing myself. All they care about is doing the minimum and trying to sell insurance to cover this and that.

It is up to the buyer to have surveys and electrical and gas checks. The mortgage survey just does a most basic check and valuation. I did my own survey

Anyway, now to be sorted. I discovered that one of the double sockets next to the cooker area was a different make to all the other switches and outlets in the kitchen, removed it to find the other end of the wire from the blanking plate and some thick wire coming down. This was linked to the "cooker" fuse in the fuse box. So the previous owner must have thought a double socket was more useful there than a single socket and cooker switch. Going to get the correct switch/outlet from Screwfix tonight.

 

[Rig Pig]

Has your house got an electric shower? If so the supply has probably been pinched to feed that!

 

[Rig Pig]

Has your house got an electric shower? If so the supply has probably been pinched to feed that!

Just typing that as your update came in!